Crunch Time in 2014; Looking Ahead to Next Year

I enjoy Q4 every year. It is crunch time; the time when – for better or for worse – the proof of all your hard work in Q1-Q3 becomes clear. However, examining your organization’s end-of-the-year financials and plotting a P&L course for the following 12 months is just one piece of the puzzle. Another important component centers on evaluating the laundry list of intangibles at your company, and creating “work resolutions” for 2015. These are all of the small elements that, when put together, offer the best chance of hitting a home run in 2015.

Looking ahead to next year, here are my current “work resolutions” for Turnkey Intelligence:

Continue to Strengthen Client Relationships: Strong relationships within the industry are the backbone of Turnkey’s business. I am proud that we have established a high level of trust with our clients. We have always been long-term thinkers, and believe the relationships you build with individuals will pay dividends over time.

As Turnkey grows, our company must continue to ensure that both clients and employees understand how important trust and relationships are to our business. Maintaining these relationships isn’t easy; you have to work at them every day. However, we continue to believe that the relationship is more important than the sale, because it will last longer and benefit our business more in the long run.

Focus on Innovation: Clients’ reliance on Turnkey technology grows each day. We have developed a business model that empowers clients to use our software products in whatever ways, and at whatever frequencies, make the most sense for their particular business.

For this business model to work, we must continue to be innovators when it comes to technology. We have to clarify and create the technological solutions our clients need before they know they need them. We need our employees and partners to always be looking for the next need. Our employees must test ideas and concepts with clients, and think outside the box to discover what a client might need six months down the road.

Innovation is extremely tiring, in part because it’s ongoing and never complete. However, there is nothing more rewarding than creating a new, unique solution that solves a need within the industry.

Cultivate a Positive (& Organic) Culture: Almost every executive is convinced they have established a great working environment and culture. We all want to say that we have a work-hard-and-have-fun culture. But this cannot be true… right? After all, we all know someone who dislikes his or her job. So, what makes for great culture or poor culture? What can management do to foster the right culture? I think about this every single day of the year, and am constantly trying to foster culture organically, not create culture.

If Turnkey can nail these three intangibles, 2015 will be a great year.

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